Jack Miller Says Quartararo “Oozes Talent” but Passing Is Nearly Impossible on Yamaha Inline M1

MotoGP, Sportrik Media - Jack Miller has praised Fabio Quartararo for his exceptional natural ability during the 2025 MotoGP season, describing the Frenchman as a rider who truly “oozes talent”, especially over a single flying lap. However, the Australian admitted that racing the Yamaha Inline M1 made overtaking almost impossible in the heat of battle.

The 2025 season marked Yamaha’s farewell year with its inline-four engine before switching to a V4 project in 2026. During that final campaign, Quartararo clearly stood out as the strongest Yamaha rider, finishing eight positions higher in the championship than Miller, who was the next-best M1 representative with Pramac Racing.

Moreover, Quartararo was the only Yamaha rider to reach the podium throughout the season and came close to winning the British MotoGP. By comparison, Miller’s best result was fourth place, while Alex Rins recorded a best finish of seventh and Miguel Oliveira ninth.

However, Quartararo’s biggest advantage came in qualifying. The former world champion secured five pole positions, beaten only by Marc Marquez, and ended the season third in the BMW Award standings behind the Ducati duo of Marc and Alex Marquez.

By contrast, Miller finished 12th overall in the Saturday qualifying rankings, although he enjoyed a standout moment with a front-row start alongside Quartararo at Phillip Island.

“I’ve been friends with Fabio for a long time, so it was great to be able to work together. But obviously, he’s the first person you want to beat, and vice versa,” Miller said.

The Australian, who has previously raced for Ducati, KTM, and Honda, described Quartararo as a special rider whose one-lap speed masks deeper frustrations during races.

“For one lap, in terms of talent, the guy oozes it. It’s just unfortunate that the bike wasn’t much fun to race,” Miller explained.

According to him, the Yamaha Inline M1 demanded a very specific riding style and was far from user-friendly when fighting in a group.

“The bike doesn’t like switching lines. You couldn’t brake that bit later or square the corner off to protect your line. If you wanted to set up a pass, it was borderline impossible unless there was a mistake from the rider in front,” he added.

As a result, Miller believes Quartararo’s race-day struggles were understandable, given how often his qualifying brilliance could not be converted into strong Sunday results.

“That’s why I believe that, with his qualifying, if he had a bike he could fight and defend a little bit better, it would make life a lot easier for him,” he said.

As a highly experienced MotoGP rider who has competed across multiple manufacturers, Miller also revealed that studying Quartararo’s data has been a valuable learning process. Over his career, he has compared telemetry with some of the sport’s biggest names, including Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia.

“It’s been cool to see Fabio’s data. It’s nice to understand what he does differently compared to Pecco or Marc. It helps you pick up things that maybe you could do better,” said Miller, who has claimed four MotoGP victories and 23 podiums.

With Yamaha preparing for a new era with its V4 machine in 2026, many in the paddock believe Quartararo’s future prospects could change dramatically. If the new bike can preserve his qualifying edge while improving race performance, the 2021 world champion could once again become a serious title contender.

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